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Thinking of replacing my Bat spaceheater with class D, real world thoughts please

Ok so I know there are already lots of threads on class D both negative and positive

As I have had a very positive result with replacing the ss amps in my ht rig with a single tiny Nuforce class D amp I was tempted to look into the same for my stereo rig.

This is a little more difficult as my present amp is a BAT VK600SE, 120LB of muscle and heat.

Now I am in love with my present sound but still am very curious if class D could do anything for me as it certainly did in the ht rig although those ss amps were not in the BAT league to start with.

So I would like to hear from people who have actually gone this route, replaced their expensive, heavy, power consuming amps with tiny little cold running boxes and what their results were.

Was it uplifting, about the same or make you wish you had never heard of class D!

128x128uberwaltz
erik_squires
16,118 posts
 
I guess to re-phrase my answers:

I don’t know of any reason why you should NOT consider a Class-D or hybrid (NuForce) amplifier.

I also don’t know you’ll like them better. :)

With the type of amp you have though I’m going to guess you have really gotten used to it’s virtues. Switching to any other amp may be a hard one for you. :)

Best,

E
gammajo's avatar
gammajo
846 posts
 
Since you already like the Nuforce. I would recommend trying the Nuforce/Nuprime Reference 20 mono amps, which are a huge step up in refinement from their other designs, yet still run cool. Also Bob Smith their repair person does mods on these that do not void warrentee and do not change signal path, rather add better quality wire and shielding, which further pleases the ear. Just got back from AXPONA and have heard many other class D and other systems in people's homes and I like what got the best (with proper cabling and power isolation) in a sensitive system
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz OP
13,381 posts
 
Oh I can see this being a journey of discovery for sure

Yes I do like what I have with the BAT but am also open minded considering my positive experience with the ht rig and the NuForce amp.

One thing is for sure, the BAT will be hanging around for a while as I try some variants out and see just what I like and do not like.
One nice thing about the majority of the class d amps is that the cost is not anywhere near the cost of a pair of top flight a/ab amps so can afford to give a few trials without a second mortage
kdude66
1,200 posts
 
What kind of speakers do you have, and what is your primary sonic presentation priorities.

After about 30 yrs of owning all kinds of top gear,class a solid state and tubes of all kinds I went class d 3yrs ago and haven't looked back.Its very hard to directly compare class d is totally different in its presentation of music.

I could elaborate more if I had more info into what are you looking for.

Kenny.
tom_hankins
928 posts
 
I tried moving to Spectron Musician III amps from Krell classA, and BAT tube amps. Fun for several days. But as i went through more of my music collection realized something was not right, at least for me, in the treble. Ended up costing me money. I have heard the Mola Mola amps sound good at shows but I learned my lesson. Keep the Bat.
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